Chess set

ABSTRACT

This invention provides a chess set which includes a plurality of substantially flat playing pieces, and a chess board. The playing pieces each have a projecting tab, and the playing board includes the usual square-grid pattern in contrasting colours, with each of the squares of the grid pattern having a diagonally oriented pocket which extends downwardly away from the surface on which the square grid pattern is marked. The pocket is substantially rectilinear in the plane of the board, and because it extends perpendicularly to the surface of the board itself, it is able to receive and hold the projecting tab of one of the substantially flat playing pieces, such that the piece is held in perpendicular relation to the surface of the board.

United States Patent Butler Sept. 23, 1975 CHESS SET [76] Inventor: John E. Butler, 299 Roehampton 'm E'mm" 1er R1chard Pmkham Toronto Ontario Canada Asszstant ExammerHarry G. Strappello 4 52 7 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Sim & McBurney [22] Filed: Mar. 5, 1975 [21] Appl. No.2 555,528 TRACT [52] US. Cl 273/136 E; 273/137 AC [51] Int. Cl. A63F 3/02 [58] Field of Search 273/131 R, 131 B, 131 BA, 273/131 K, 131 KN, 136 R, 136 C, 136 D, 136 E, 136 11,136 K, 136 Z, 137 R, 137 AC, 137 AD, 152.31, 13] KC [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 783,293 2/1905 Livesey 273/136 E 1,085,941 2/1914 Russell 273/136 E 1,404,599 1/1922 Glenny 273/l52.31 X 3,339,289 9/1967 Arkin 273/136 E X 3,753,562 8/1973 Knowlton 273/136 K X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 588,687 11/1933 Germany 273/136 c This invention provides a chess set which includes a plurality of substantially flat playing pieces, and a chess board. The playing pieces each have a projecting tab, and the playing board. includes the usual square-grid pattern in contrasting colours, with each of the squares of the grid pattern having a diagonally oriented pocket which extends downwardly away from the surface on which the square grid pattern is marked. The pocket is substantially rectilinear in the plane of the board, and because it extends perpendicularly to the surface of the board itself, it is able to receive and hold the projecting tab of one of the substantially flat playing pieces, such that the piece is held in perpendicular relation to the surface of the board.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 2 0f 2 3,907,302

CHESS SET 'This invention relates to an improvement in portable playing boards such as chess sets, and'has to do particularly with a portable game board' in which a plurality of substantially flat or two-dimensional playing pieces are equipped with locking means by which they may be temporarily erected atdifferent points onthe' chess board, due to a particular chess board'constructio'n.

This invention provides'the combination of' a plurality of substantially flat playing" pieces, each having a projecting locking tab, and a thin playing boardmarked on its upper surface with squares in a grid pattern, the playing board having, in each square, an elongated pocket extending perpendicularly downward from the board and opening diagonally through its respective square, each pocket being adapted to supportingly, receive the projecting tab of a playing piece.-

Since the playing pieces .of the present-invention are two-dimensional, they may be manufactured much more economically than conventional threedimensional chess pieces. For example; the playing pieces can be'.die-cut out of a sheet of corrugated cardboardor simple laminated bristol board orsimilar stiff material. V n N In addition, being, two-dimensional, the playing pieces lend themselves to carrying a trade mark, slogan or other commercial message. The latter is a feature of commercial consequence, since these playingpieces can be produced so economically that they lend themselves to use in promotional or advertising programs.

Also, since the playing pieces can be locked in position on selected squares of the playing board, the present invention has particular utility when one travelling or playing outdoors. I v 7 One embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals denote like parts throughout the several views, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the playing surface of a chess board constructedin accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of one of the playing pieces;

FIG. 3 is a partly broken-away perspective view of a corner portion of the chess board of FIG. 1, showing the particular construction which permits individual playing pieces to be held in an upright or perpendicular orientation; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the underside of the playing board of this invention, illustrating the particular construction thereof.

The illustrated chess board, generally indicated by reference numeral 10, carries the conventional 64 squares, these being arranged in an square-grid pattern with the squares in each row alternating in colour. These are shown as black squares 12 and white squares 14 in FIG. 1.

As seen in FIG. 1, each square 12, 14 is provided with a diagonal slot 16. Preferably, all of the slots are oriented in the same diagonal direction, so that different pluralities of the slots are in aligned relation. It will be understood from what follows that this alignment of the slots facilitates the manufacture of the board.

As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, each slot 16 is merely the upper, open end of an elongated pocket which is integrally formed with the material of the playing board 10. More particularly, the playing board 10 includes a substantially two-dimensional plate member 17 having an' integral frame 19 around its peripheral edges. It is on' the plate member 17 that the particular grid pattern shown in FIG. 1 is'printed, and it is this plate member 17 which, in the forming procedure, is provided with the plurality of elongated pockets 21 seen in FIGS. 3

and. 4.

Also provided are two-dimensional chess pieces 18, which are preferably shaped to resemble conventional chess men, but may additionally carry a picture or outline of the chess men they represent on each of their flat faces, as indicated at 20 in FIG. 2, and as shown more clearly in FIG. 3. Each 'chess piece 18 has a flat base 22, which is ,centrally' interrupted by a downwardly extending rectangular tab 24. All of the tabs 24 of the plurality of two-dimensional chess pieces 18 are preferably of the same length and the same depth,"and likewise all of the pockets 21are preferably of the same length and 'the same depth, with the pockets being slightly greater in these dimensions than the tabs 24. In this way,,when the tab 24 of a given piece 18 is inserted through a slot 16 into the respective pocket 21 of a selected square, 'thechesspiece may be pushed downwardly until its flat'bas'e 22 contacts the upper surface square, and supported in an upright or perpendicular orientation by the rigidity and 'shape of the respective" pocket 21. It will be appreciated that the width of the pocket,i.e. the dimension defined between the two side walls of each pocket 21, is such as to snugly receive the tab 24 of a given chess piece 18. With the chess piece (or pieces) in this locked and upright orientation, the board 10 may be tilted or jostled without changing the positions of the chess'pieces relative to the board. New positions for the individual chess pieces 18 can be assumed only by voluntary upward withdrawal of the chosen piece, so that its tab 24 is removed from the original pocket 21 and then inserted into another se-' lected pocket 21. The slots 16 and respective pockets 21 are shown in the figures as extending diagonally across each square atan angle of 45, although it is contemplated that some departure from the 45 angle may be utilized without sacrificing the advantages conferred by this invention. The 45 angle, however, is preferred from several points of view. In the first place, by selecting an angle of 45, it is possible to maximize the overall width dimension of the individual chess pieces. It will be understood that, by utilizing a 45 angle, the upper limit for the width of the individual chess pieces is equal to the diagonal of a square, whereas any other angle would require a smaller upper limit. For example, if the slots were positioned parallel to two edges of each square, the upper limit would be approximately 0.7 of the upper limit when using the diagonal.

Another advantage of utilizing the diagonally oriented pockets as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 has to do with the inherent strength characteristics of the playing boards so formed. It is easily seen in FIG. 3 that the arrangements of the different pockets, when looking diagonally of the board itself (and normal to the "rows of pockets 21) is such that the gap between any two adjacent pockets in a given diagonal row is filled in" by one of the pockets in the adjacent row. This reduces the tendency for inherently weak points to be present in the structure of the board.

Further strength is added to the board 10 by the presence of the pockets 21, due to the fact that the individual pockets, in their particular local region of the surface of the board, act as l-beam members which resist distortion in the direction parallel to their longest dimension. It will be understood further that it would the oretically be possible to join or link together all of the pockets 21 in a given diagonal row (the rows being best visible in FIG. 4), however this would tend to so strengthen and rigidify the board 10, as to risk actual rupture under a high bending load. Taking all of these factors into consideration, it has been found that the provision of intermittent but diagonally related pockets 21 gives the best results from the standpoints of rigidity, flexibility, firm support of the two-dimensional playing pieces, and manufacture by the vacuumforming process.

It will also be appreciated that, instead of a single slot 16 in each square, a similar slot 16A may be provided to intersect the slots 16 at an angle of 90", thereby forming an X-shaped slot or pocket. This double slot, of course, provides a choice of locking positions which may enhance overall study of the game in progress.

Finally, a last advantage of the positioning of the playing pieces diagonally to the respective checker squares is related to the possibility that the game may be studied by an onlooker from the side. It will be appreciated that, if all playing pieces were to be positioned so that they squarely faced the two people actually playing the game, a third person looking on from the side would see only the edge or profile of each of the pieces, and would not be able readily to determine which piece he is looking at. However, by positioning all the pieces diagonally, both the players and any onlookers are able to get an oblique view of each piece, sufficient to identify the particular piece in question.

The diagnal orientation of the pieces also make this considerably easier for the players to see and identify the smaller chess men (pawns), for example when these are located directly behind larger chess men. If the chess pieces were oriented squarely, than a player shifting his head to the side to glimps a small piece partially hidden by a larger piece directly in front of it, would see the small piece at an oblique angle, and may have some difficulty in identifying it. The oblique orientation of the pieces, however, will mean that when the player shifts his head to the side to glimps a partially hidden smaller piece, he will see that smaller piece in face on view, rather than obliquely.

It is also considered that the chess men when oriented diagonally make a much more attractive display than when set up in alignment with the square grid.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. For use with a plurality of substantially flat playing pieces each having a projecting tab, a playing board comprising:

a substantially two-dimensional plate member marked on one surface with a grid pattern of rectangles in contrasting colours,

the plate member having a plurality of elongated pockets extending perpendicularly away from said one surface, each pocket opening through one of said rectangles substantially diagonally thereof, whereby a playing piece may be placed on the board with its projecting tab received in one of said pockets.

2. The invention claimed in claim 1, in which said pockets are disposed in a plurality of diagonal rows.

3. The invention claimed in claim 2, in which the rectangles are squares marked in a checkered pattern.

4. The invention claimed in claim 3, in which the playing board has an integral frame adapted to hold the plate member above a supporting surface by a distance at least as great as the maximum depth of said pockets.

5. In combination:

a plurality of substantially flat playing pieces each having a projecting tab,

and a thin playing board marked on its upper surface with squares in a grid pattern, the playing board having, in each square, an elongated pocket extending perpendicularly downward from the board and opening diagonally through its respective square, each pocket being adapted to supportingly receive the projecting tab of a playing piece. 

1. For use with a plurality of substantially flat playing pieces each having a projecting tab, a playing board comprising: a substantially two-dimensional plate member marked on one surface with a grid pattern of rectangles in contrasting colours, the plate member having a plurality of elongated pockets extending perpendicularly away from said one surface, each pocket opening through one of said rectangles substantially diagonally thereof, whereby a playing piece may be placed on the board with its projecting tab received in one of said pockets.
 2. The invention claimed in claim 1, in which said pockets are disposed in a plurality of diagonal rows.
 3. The invention claimed in claim 2, in which the rectangles are squares marked in a checkered pattern.
 4. The invention claimed in claim 3, in which the playing board has an integral frame adapted to hold the plate member above a supporting surfAce by a distance at least as great as the maximum depth of said pockets.
 5. In combination: a plurality of substantially flat playing pieces each having a projecting tab, and a thin playing board marked on its upper surface with squares in a grid pattern, the playing board having, in each square, an elongated pocket extending perpendicularly downward from the board and opening diagonally through its respective square, each pocket being adapted to supportingly receive the projecting tab of a playing piece. 